Monday, February 20, 2006

Weekend Runs

Kenneth (pm20) called me on Friday, asking if I wanted to run with him on Saturday morning in Klang. I agreed with him and he later told me that Martin (Lone Runner) would also be joining us.

On saturday, we met at the entrance of Taman Rakyat and started running from there, using the back routes of Klang and then heading to the main highway on Jln Langat before heading back to Tmn Rakyat. Total distance covered was about 8k. I felt that I may have pushed the pace too hard trying to keep up with pm20, and in the end my left foot starting showing signs of the injury again.

After the run, we had decided to go to Bukit Aman the next morning for a long run. I picked up Kenneth at 5am and we arrived at Bukit Aman by 5.30. Martin was there waiting for us. Before we started a friend of pm20, Jessica had arrived and we all started running together.

My foot showed no signs of pain when I started, and I paced with Martin while pm20 was running with Jessica.. hehe! By the time I had run about 4km and had turned left onto Jln Tunku and was making my way downhill, the pain suddenly hit, and oh boy what a pain it was. Such severe pain that I didn't know where it came from.

I was forced to stop and told Martin I was calling it a day. I asked him to go on ahead but he was too much of a gentleman for that and walked me back to Bukit Aman. We chilled out about 45 minutes and spoke to some of the other runners who were just starting to run including Richard (pm36) before some of the first batch of runners started coming back.

We left after chatting with some familiar faces, including Jamie, Lawrence, Adam and Tey. My foot was better by then but I knew that this was not to be the end of my problems with this injury. For the rest of the day my foot starting having sporadic severe-sharp-shooting pains which I can't for the life of me figure out where it comes from.

I've reverted to my oral anti-inflammatory tablets. I'm going to rest completely from running for one week. I shall be doing some cross training i.e weight training, stretching and brisk walking on my treadmill (with an incline). Hopefully these exercises will keep me from loosing too much of my fitness. I shall have to be very careful with my diet for the next two weeks as well.

One thing I have decided is that my pair of Nike Pegasus shall be washed and turned into my casual (jalan-jalan) shoes. I shall be using my New Balance if I do make it to the starting line of KLIM. After KLIM, I am going to invest in a pair of New Balance 766, 4E. I am almost completely certain that this injury was caused by the Nikes and the fact that they are really narrow and snug, and do not expand along with my feet on my long runs.

I've been adviced to consider registering for the half marathon instead. I did think about it and have decided that if I cannot recover in time for the full, I shall not be running at all in this year's KLIM. I don't really feel overly disappointed with what has happenned, as I've come to realise that this is part and parcel of running. As I'm still a new runner, there will be many more good and important lessons to be learnt, and there will be many more marathons for me to take part in again. So for now, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed.

11 comments:

Yes I think you made a good decision to postpone yr marathon aspirations. If the injury does not go away after 3 to 5 days rest, u should consider seeing a doctor. I still think you run the half at least for the experience

You've got the right attitude man! Many more races to run this year...BTW, Nike Pegasus is not so suitable for endurance as cushioning may not suffice for longer than one hour run. New Balance better choice. Hope yu recover soon!

Haizad, I'm sorry to hear about your knee and its lack of improvement. This injury always "disappears" after few days, but this time I want to rest longer to give it chance to completely recover.

KNN, I think I can still make it for the 42 lah (stubborn). But I will know for sure by this Sunday.

Tey, why you so busy ah? No news for many days already. I will be fine and I'm not worried :)

Anonymous... thanks man! Are you sure the Pegasus is that bad? Many runners like Shine etc claim it to be a really good long distance trainer and marathon shoe.

Apek, sorry to hear about your possible absence from KLIM due to work. I've been hearing a lot about the NB766 so since I know that NB shoes come in wide sizes. I still hope you can make it for this marathon.

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